A vehicle door typically has an outer door panel, an inner door panel and a trim panel. The inner door panel supports door furniture such as a lock and window control equipment, and the trim panel provides a decorative appearance to the interior of the door. The door is usually provided with primary and secondary seals for sealing the door against the ingress of water when the door is closed. A drainage hole may be formed in the lower region of the door so that water collecting inside the door, for example water entering via a window in the door, can drain away directly to the outside. Unfortunately, the provision of such a drain hole provides an acoustic path for noise transmission from the outside to the passenger cabin of the vehicle. Typically, such noise is road noise generated by the adjacent vehicle tire and/or wind noise. This noise is known as noise vibration and harshness (NVH).
At least in certain embodiments, the present invention sets out to reduce NVH sound transmission to the passenger cabin of a vehicle via a door of the vehicle.